Over the last several decades, influential witness training methods like Evangelism Explosion (1962), Continuing Witness Training (1982), Becoming a Contagious Christian (1995) and FAITH Evangelism (1999) became a key driver of church growth.

Across America and around the world, a fresh Acts 1:8 history lesson was learned: Develop an intentional witness training plan, maintain a growing prospect list and build a sustained churchwide evangelism focus.

The influence of these programs continues in churches that have made them a part of their vision and DNA. In other churches, they ran their course and petered out, leaving exhausted pastors and congregations in their wake.

It seems likely that some of us (and I count myself in this group) over thought and over complicated what should have been a simple proposition: Mobilize as many believers as possible to live a lifestyle of sharing.

More than ever, I believe that mobilizing more people with simplified evangelism “handles” is the best way forward. If you’re a believer, then you can share your faith. Let’s return to basics and embrace KISS methodology: “Keep it short and simple.”

At First West, our evangelism plan asks for 3 commitments:

1 Story – Learn to share your 1 story.

1 Verse – Memorize 1 verse to share the gospel.

1 Person – Identify and share with your 1 person.

1 Story. Experience tells us that a person’s testimony is the easiest way to share with someone else. Every believer has a story! Teaching believers to share about their life before they met Jesus, how they came to accept Jesus into their life and about their life since they met Jesus is the best foundation for sustained lifestyle evangelism.

1 Verse. We use Romans 6:23 to equip all ages to share the gospel. It’s easy to use key words from this one verse to present God’s plan to save the world:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 (ESV)

Key words like “wages,” “sin” and “death” illustrate that our sin has earned us a death sentence. That’s the bad news. The word “but” offers some good news. “Free gift,” “of God” and “eternal life” tell us that God’s gift is the eternal life alternative to the death we deserve.

1 Person. We lead our church to know who their one person is. We ask believers to pray for their one person. We ask them to start faith conversations with their one person. We ask them to invite their one person to a weekend service or special community event. And we ask them to share the gospel when the relational chips have been earned to do so.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Provide evangelism “handles” like 1 story, 1 verse, 1 person to keep witness training short and simple. Mobilize as many believers as possible to live a lifestyle of sharing.

A few of my favorite demotivators from Despair, Inc. are the ones describing the pointlessness of meetings, committees and teamwork:

Meetings. None of us is as dumb as all of us.Teamwork. A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.Committees. Just like teamwork. Only without the work.

All sarcasm aside, the laughter in those statements belies an underlying truth about meetings. You’ve probably been a part of meetings that obscured the solution and created more, not less, confusion. If your meetings resemble those statements, then you’re not alone.

I have a confession to make. I’ve been a bad meeting leader. Whether it was meeting too long or too frequently, ending without a next step or attempting to do too much, a share of my meetings have been ineffective. But while I’ve made every mistake in the list below, I’m learning to make the right adjustments to become a good meeting leader.

Consider a few lessons that I’m learning:

Make it fun. Praying for personal needs, recognizing important life moments and celebrating team wins are all part of healthy staff culture. Make staff meetings as much about motivating and encouraging people as about the meeting’s agenda.

Be prepared. Set a clear agenda and focus the meeting. It can be frustrating to attempt to do too much in a meeting. Limit the scope of the discussion and save “rabbit holes” for sidebars or e-mail.

Be efficient. Everyone should know what’s expected of them before they set foot in the meeting. Communicate a meeting’s purpose in advance so the team can be prepared. And don’t be afraid to cancel a scheduled meeting when it isn’t needed or when the team just needs to take a break.

Keep it moving. Meetings should be brief, lasting only as long as needed to accomplish their purpose. Manage the length of meetings and consider ways to maintain forward momentum. Scott Dobroski, community expert at Glassdoor, advises: “If you’re going to meet in person, determine how much time you need and then challenge yourself to slice it by 50%.”

Detail the action plan. Making assignments to team members (and the team leader) reduces the length of meetings and provides accountability for next steps. Identify items and ideas that require follow up and clarify who’s responsible for making it happen.

Encourage your team. Did everyone leave with a sense of accomplishment? You may not have all the answers you were looking for, but you should have a takeaway. Summarize what was accomplished so everyone leaves the meeting encouraged, motivated and satisfied.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Make the right adjustments to become a good meeting leader. Make staff meetings as much about motivating and encouraging people as about the meeting’s agenda. Be prepared and efficient, maintaining forward momentum. Encourage the team with a summary of what your meeting accomplished.